


Time Agents

by Keeh



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, Lotus and Laurel are the same person, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Fiction, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Original Mythology, POV Original Female Character, Time Skips, Time Travel, Time machine, same character different name, secret lab
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-07 00:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15897345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keeh/pseuds/Keeh
Summary: Lotus had always been taught not to question her orders. And honestly, she never had any reason too; not even when the stranger shoved the white-hot iron into her left eye.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a rough draft, feedback appreciated

Lotus had always been taught not to question her orders. And honestly, she never had any reason too; not even when the stranger shoved the white-hot iron into her left eye.  


Pyrrhus made special care to make sure that she wouldn't embarrass him or any of her other teachers, so he had told her beforehand to keep quiet during the ceremony. But of course, Lotus was not the type to let anyone down. She would keep a stiff upper lip if it killed her.  


Later, when the other agent left them alone, Pyrrhus gave the wincing girl an ice pack for her freshly glowing bright blue eye. He would find it blinding if he hadn't seen countless fresh marks. The newest graduate, on the other hand, would be sure to wear her rite of passage with pride, if not a little bit of reluctance.  


Finally, she acknowledged the other person in the room.  


"It won't be so vibrant in the human's world, will it?" Her right, brown eye shifted over to peer at her companion.  


"Of course, you have to blend in as much as possible, don't you? It'll fade before too long." Pyrrhus pulled a file from inside jacket pocket. "In the meantime, I need you to read through this. I can't have you being uninformed on your first life. And let Maren know I'm sending you off in the morning, alright?"  


Lotus nodded and took the folder.  


She waited until Pyrrhus left the room before letting out a long sigh. "Maren'll kill me for graduating before her." She went back to her own anyway.  


The room seemed so different all of a sudden. Lotus had spent most of her life living in this room, but it was so foreign now. Her left eye was reacting strangely to this decidedly not human environment. But she would have to think of that later, right then she had to focus on the other girl giving her freshly blue eye an intense stare.  


“I guess this means you win.” Lotus was relieved as a grin made its way across her friend’s face.  


Maren rose from her desk to get a closer look at Lotus’s new feature. Her own green eyes are still both the same, her blonde bangs hovering just above them. Her grin was still wide, with barely a hint of jealousy. Before too long Lotus begun to feel uncomfortable with all of the attention. None of this was supposed to be about her. So when Maren leaned away she was relieved.  


“You’re still not too far from graduating though, right? Anemone said that you only have your final exam left.” Maren shrugged off the concern in Lotus’s voice.  


“I’ll be fine. You need to rest for your big day tomorrow.”  


Lotus shook her head and held up the file. Maren chuckled good-naturedly but left the room. Surely she had her own studying to be doing, so Lotus didn’t stop her. It did feel a little lonely in their room all on her own though. She was hoping to spend more time with her friend before she left, after all, who knew if she would ever see her again. 

Lotus and Maren had been together as long as either of them could remember. Their people didn’t typically stay with their parents, so they only knew each other and their teachers.  


Of course, there were other trainees, but they didn’t always see them too much. The two girls roomed together so they spend every waking moment together. At least they did until they were given individual teachers.  


Older trainees were given private lessons that would focus mostly on the lives they would be living. There was no reason for Lotus to know about Maren’s lives, so why should they be together?  


That’s what the others would tell her, but Lotus wasn’t so sure. Knowing other agents in the human world could be helpful to them. They wouldn’t have to feel alone while living with people who didn’t know what she really was. But Lotus knew better than to question anyone. Pyrrhus would always tell her about all of the good the agents had done. How they had saved countless lives by stopping any change before it happened.  


So Lotus would do as she was told and keep her distance. And it seemed like Maren was doing the same. 

When Lotus first began her individual training Pyrrhus told her about each time agent’s book. They depicted all of the lives that an agent would ever go through and every detail of it. Typically any information an agent received about their lives excluded their own involvements. It was against their laws for the agents to know what role they would play.  


But these books gave every detail. The books were hidden all over, all inscribed with the agent’s name on the cover.  


He made her promise never to look for her book. Laurel promised, wondering why anyone would want to break their laws anyway. They still got enough information to do their jobs. 

Lotus enjoyed her first life. The agent’s maiden voyage doesn’t tend to be very involved so it wasn’t all that exciting. But she was still a little sad when she had to go back home.  


One of the things you’re warned about in lessons is getting too attached to all of the humans you meet along the way, or even just the places. After this life, Lotus could understand why. But she still always knew in the back of her mind that she would have to leave it one day. But at least she could see her own people again.  


When she returned to her own body Maren was hovering over her, her face beaming. Thankfully, her friend had lived a good life as well.  


In the few days before they would be sent off again, the two girls spent as much time together as they could. Watching friends die and knowing she wouldn’t see them again had changed Lotus’s view of her friend. They were lucky enough to live for such a long time and they should take advantage of the time they have. Even if they could only see each other between lives.  


They exchanged so many stories that Lotus felt as if she had been right there with Maren the whole time. Maren’s life had been more eventful, so her stories were mostly what filled the silence.  


“For a while, I was worried that the rebellion would get to him, but I was able to keep them away.” Maren’s voice was brimming with excitement. “Oh Lotus, I wish you had been there. I would have liked to have told someone what I had done. But none of them would have understood.”  


“They shouldn’t, I suppose, if they knew what you did, they might have tried to do something about it.” Maren let out a low hum.  


“It still would have been fun to have someone there with me.”  


Lotus could understand that, at least. There was something so lonely about knowing so much, without having anyone to share it with. 

The next few rounds were similar. Lotus would live her life, all while waiting until she could see Maren again. The later she got in her lives the more she started to feel comfortable with the humans. She made friends with them even if she didn’t have to. Pyrrhus may scold her for distracting herself, but it was worth it.  


After a while, Maren had a particularly tough life. When they returned, she didn’t want to talk to Lotus about it. Lotus understood, sometimes things didn’t go according to plan and they had to fix things on their own. Or they would grow too attached to the humans and miss them when you left. So she didn’t pry.  


The day before they were supposed to leave again Maren seemed in better spirits and Lotus was glad. She told the other girl some stories about her own life, trying to keep them light. Maren still didn’t share, but Lotus didn’t mind. She just hoped this one would be better.  


In Lotus’s next life she was going to be the sister of an inventor, Cypress Meadows. Lotus herself would be Laurel Meadows. The file described a good life and she was looking forward to it.  


The night before they would go, Maren stayed up the whole night reading her own file. Lotus thought it would be a good idea to follow her friend’s lead.


	2. Laurel Meadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> leading up to a revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is mostly unedited, so please let me know if there are any mistakes

Laurel drums her fingers on the desk impatiently. Her brother’s frantic ramblings filling the room as the pools of liquid under her fingers separate.  


"Are you even listening to me?"  


She glances up to lock eyes with him. "Of course I am."  


The door swings open before he can ask her anything else.  


One of Laurel’s best friends, Noah, poked his head through the door. “Is Laurel here? We’ve been looking everywhere for her.”  


Now Cypress is more annoyed than distracted. “How'd he get in here? Do they both have the combination?"  


Remy, Laurel’s other best friend, pokes her head in as well. Unlike Noah, she doesn’t have the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry, Laurel said you wouldn't mind if we came up here."  


Cypress turns to Laurel to judge the truth of the statement. His sister merely shrugs. He sighs and grabs for his secret notes. "Well, she lied to you. I'd like to keep my secret lab a secret." He stuffed the notes in a nearby drawer before he shoved the others out of the room.  


“What’s got him all grumpy today?” Remy wonders as she strolls in the lab.  


Laurel watches her as she tinkers with her brother’s inventions. The lab was filled with projects he was working on, although who knew if he would ever finish any of them. Laurel finally stopped her when she was about to knock something off its shelf.  


“Maybe because he knew you would do something like that.” She examined the machine in her hand. She couldn’t even tell what it was, but she still placed it back on the shelf with care.  


“Well, I tried to stop her from coming up here.” Noah put his hands on his hips, the scorn clear in his voice.  


Remy ignored him, turning back to Laurel. “So, are we gonna go have some fun or what? There’s more to do at my house.” She clapped her hands together as if in prayer, begging Laurel to agree. It was clear that she was meant to be the tiebreaker.  


Laurel smirked. “Don’t you think we should be studying for finals? They’re kind of a big deal you know.” Remy deflated, Noah, giving a satisfied nod behind her.  


As she turned and they started to bicker Laurel did some reflecting. It seemed strange that they would be graduating so soon, and the Cypress was getting closer to the big invention. Laurel could see the larger machine covered by the tarp in the corner of the room. She figured there was nothing else it could be but that.  


A pair of snapping fingers in her face broke her train of thought. “You can’t lecture me and zone out at the same time.”  


Nodding, Laurel led her friends back downstairs into her own bedroom. 

A few days later finds the three of them at the library, pouring over open textbooks. Laurel is distracted, though. Graduation was coming up and who knew if they would be able to stay together after that. They had all been accepted to colleges relatively close by, but still, they had never spent much time away from each other since they met.  


She looked up at her friends quizzing each other. Noah’s patient tone was hard to ignore, no matter how hard Remy tried to do so. She struggled through the vocabulary words as Noah tried to give her some advice.  


At least she was finally actually studying though. It may be just a couple days before finals start, but it’s better than nothing. 

That Monday, the first day of finals, features Laurel feeling more nervous than she expected. This was far from the hardest thing she’s had to do, even just exam wise. But she felt like she wasn’t nervous for herself at all.  


That morning she met with her friends before the first test was meant to start. Remy had her head buried in her notes most of their time there.  


“What got you studying so much all of a sudden?” Laurel asked. Remy’s brow furrowed, trying to find the best answer.  


“My mom wants me to do well.” And she left it at that.  


Maybe they’ll talk to her about it later.

Laurel herself is trying to get her older brother to help her study. She has her science final tomorrow and is hoping that he can share some of his expertise.  


“Maybe I’ll help you out later.” He told her before disappearing back inside his lab. She couldn’t help but see the irony. 

“At least that’s over.” Remy groaned as she stretched her arms above her head, narrowly avoiding hitting the kid behind her.  


Noah gently elbowed her in the side. “Aren’t you glad you listened to us?” She gave a noncommittal grunt in response, stuffing her hands back into her pockets.  


“It doesn’t really matter anyway. We were gonna graduate either way.” Noah looked down at her but decided against it, instead, locking eyes with Laurel. She nodded back in understanding.  


“Maybe Cypress will show us more of his experiments this weekend.” Remy and Noah are going to stay at Laurel’s house that weekend so they could all go to graduation together. And maybe they would plan something for the three of them to do after that.  


“Maybe.” Laurel replies. There probably wasn’t a high chance of Cypress letting them anywhere near his lab again.  


It’s only Thursday, so her friends wouldn’t be coming over until tomorrow. That gave her some time to do a little research. She didn’t think of herself as a time agent much in this life, so she had to remind herself. One way to do that was to break out the file she kept hidden.  


Cypress’ life is pretty simple so Lotus was able to get distracted, but she still had a job to do. And according to her file, he wasn’t too far from finishing his time machine. It doesn’t describe what he does with it at first, so she wonders if she has anything to do with it. She tries to stop herself from feeling that way, it’s far too close to looking into her own history.  


So she closes the file and puts it back in its hiding spot, and heads down for dinner. 

Laurel likes her family. These may be some of her favorite parents she’s ever had. Her mother was a dentist and her father a school teacher. They were simple people, and Laurel liked that.  


Cypress had been back home from college for just a few weeks and he had spent most of that time in his lab. Laurel liked to stay in there with him, even if he complained about it. None of those complaints were genuine anyway.  


He did kick her out sometimes, presumably so he could work on the time machine. It was also likely that she was the only one that knew what he was up to.  


“When do you think your friends will get here tomorrow, Laurel?” she glanced up from her food to look at her mom.  


“Sometime after lunch probably.” Rose nods. Her long, dark hair strains against its ponytail. Laurel’s glad that she got her hair rather than her father’s thinning hair.  


“I’ll have to call Marsha in the morning. I told her I need to know beforehand if I need to pick her up.” A tint of annoyance appears in her voice. She and Remy’s mother didn’t exactly get along, and Laurel couldn’t blame her. She’s a bitter woman.  


“I can ask Remy in a little bit.”  


Cypress clears his throat, getting everyone else’s attention. Their father raises his eyebrows. Laurel smirks. “If you have something to say, spit it out.”  


Her brother glares at her before speaking. “I was going to say that you and your friends can come to my lab Saturday if you want.”  


His family looks at him with surprise evident on their faces. “Really?” Robert asks.  


“Really. There’s something I want them to look at.” He looks down at his food, avoiding eye contact.  


Laurel wonders what he’s up too. She doesn’t have anything in her notes about this kind of behavior. When they were younger Cypress was a nervous kid, but when they got older that changed. He was only a few years older than her, but he always seemed so much older than she was. He started to push them away in favor of his work. He hadn’t been this hesitant in a long time.  


Did he make some kind of breakthrough?  


“Sure,” Laurel stutters out. “We’d like that.” He nods and dinner continues as it always had.


	3. The Lab's Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy and Noah wonder what's in the lab. Laurel worries.

The next afternoon Laurel’s friends arrive a little later than she would have expected them to. They arrive together, so she wonders if that has anything to do with it. They both drag bags behind them, a third between them.  


They rush up to Laurel’s room before she has the chance to ask what’s in the bag.  


“What’s in the bag?” Remy smirks before opening it up. Inside the bag is several library books about time travel. “And why do you have those?” Laurel wonders if her friends somehow know what her brother’s up to.  


“We think we know what Cypress has been hiding,” Remy responds.  


“Oh.”  


“Actually,” Noah interjects. “Remy thinks he’s making a time machine. I convinced her not to ask him anything about it. It seems kind of silly to me.”  


Laurel raises her eyebrows. She knows it’s a time machine, but she isn’t sure she wants them to know as well. She decides that siding with Noah will save them from any kind of trouble. “I’m sure he’s right. Even if he is working on a time machine there’s no way it would work.”  


Remy seems unconvinced. “Let’s go ask him about it. Or at least leave one of the books out so he knows we’re on to him.”  


“Only if you let him know we want no part of this.” Noah’s exasperated tone falls on deaf ears as Remy leaves laurel’s bedroom.  


Noah lets out a long sigh. “Should we go after her?”  


Laurel shakes her head as Noah runs a hand through his shaggy blond hair. “It’s not a big deal, you know, I doubt he would care that much if he asks what she’s up to. He was gonna let us into the lab tomorrow anyway.”  


“Really? That doesn’t seem like him.” Curiosity seeps into his voice. Laurel agrees but isn’t nearly as surprised.  


“Maybe he just wants someone to look at his work.” The corner of her lip quirks up. “Or maybe he wants us to check out his time machine.”  


They find Remy upstairs, standing in front of the door to Cypress’ lab. Her red hair is a little extra curly today, and Laurel can’t help but wonder if that was what took her a little extra time. Her hair just brushed her shoulders and the freckles on her face are the same shade of orange.  


Remy turns when she hears her friends walk up behind her. “He isn’t opening the door.”  


Her friend's determination made Laurel doubt her own. When Lotus was in training she never thought about looking for her book, but now she isn’t so sure. The more lives she lives the more she wants to know. For something like this, she feels like she needs to know more to do her job.  


She has also gotten good at ignoring that voice in the back of her head that told her all she needed to do was protect Cypress and his inventions. But that’s not as fun, she would whisper back to the voice.  


She would still never do anything against the time agent’s laws, but it's nice to think about reading her book.  


Turning away from the lab, she tears herself away from her rebellious thoughts. 

Back in her room, her friends are rifling through their time travel books. Laurel figures that this wouldn’t help her get her mind of anything. “It might be best to do something else before the lab tomorrow.” She closes the books before they can offer much protest.  


“Sure,” Noah begins. “We were going to talk about that road trip you know.”  


Remy groans. “That road trip that won’t happen, you mean. Laurel, tell him that isn’t gonna happen.” They both turn to her for affirmation.  


“It isn’t like we actually have anything planned for it. I never thought we would go through with it.” As Remy celebrates, Laurel puts the time travel books out of the way. Noah watches her do so.  


“You seem really bothered by this whole thing. Care to share?” Laurel looks over to stare into his blue eyes. When she was a kid she always thought that he could read her mind with those eyes. She was also always jealous of everyone for having the same color eyes. Sometimes she felt like they made her stand out too much.  


She sighs before answering his question. “Not really, it just feels strange, I guess.” Her friends nod along.  


“At least we won’t be too far away from each other. We can still meet up on weekends and stuff.” Remy offers. There’s a softness in her voice that Laurel hasn’t heard in a long time. Not since she told them what was really going on with her family. It reminded Laurel what it felt like to be out of the loop. It was so strange for her to be close to someone who could keep secrets from her.  


It also reminded her that she had been considering telling them who she really was. Now might be the best time to do it anyway, if they tried to faze her out of the group at least she could pretend that it was a natural thing. She had never told anyone who she truly was before and wonders what would happen. She doubts it would be anything good though.  


So she forces down that desire and joins her friends in reminiscing about the old times. 

“No, that was totally your fault!” Laurel points an accusatory finger at Remy. The other girl was on her back, cackling.  


“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was my job to keep your parents away.”  


Before Laurel has the chance to retaliate, the door swings open to reveal Cypress with an unusually wide grin on his face. All three teenagers perked up at his excitement.  


“What’s got you so excited?” Laurel asks.  


His grin shrinks only slightly. “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see, I still have to run a few tests.” He clears his throat to compose himself a bit. “And it’s time to go for dinner, Mom’s waiting.”  


After Cypress leaves the remaining three exchange a meaningful look before scrambling after him. The other two have to stop Remy before she tries to grab one of the time travel books to bring with her. On their way down the hall, they still whisper about what Cypress could be working on.  


“What are you three muttering about? You got something planned?” Robert asks as they enter the kitchen.  


“Of course not Mr. Meadows.” Noah’s blinding smile seems to persuade him well enough, as he turns away from them.  


Rose brings out a stack of pizzas and Laurel and her friends take some and head into a separate room. Laurel motions for her brother to come with them. He seems hesitant but ultimately obeys. He sits at the far end of the table and tries his best not to look over at them. Remy decides not to let that happen.  


“We know you wanna tell us what you’re doing up there.” She stuffs her pizza in her mouth as she waits for an answer, the others doing the same.  


Cypress makes a show of sighing. “I told Laurel you can come in tomorrow. You’ll just have to wait in suspense until then.” He takes a bit of his own pizza hoping that they would drop it.  


“You could give us a hint at least.” Noah pleads. They all knew that Cypress preferred Noah to Remy, his calm nature more his style, but he still refuses.  


“Sorry folks, I don’t want to get your hopes up in case it doesn’t work.” He picks his plate up and heads over to where his parents had sat down for dinner.  


“Good job pushing him,” Remy complains. Noah kicks her under the table.  


After a pause, Laurel chimes in. “Why do you two think he’s working on a time machine anyway? It could be anything.” The others exchange a look.  


“You know how he’s been reading all of those history books lately?” Laurel nods. “That can’t just be a coincidence right?” Remy raises her eyebrows when she finishes speaking. Clearly thinking she’s proven herself right.  


“He has always been into that kind of stuff.” Remy groans at her response.  


“Yeah, but he takes them into his lab. I saw them when we went up there before.” Laurel’s eyebrows raise just as high as Remy’s.  


“I guess so, then.” Laurel’s surprised her brother’s being so sloppy. And even more surprised that her friends are picking up on the history books. She also suspects that Remy hadn’t been the one to point them out. So, she turns her attention onto Noah. “Do you think he wants us to do something with it?”  


He shrugs. “Why else would he let us in the lab?”  


As they move onto a normal conversation Laurel thinks about what’s going to happen tomorrow. There weren’t too many doubts to what Cypress was going to show them, but was he going to have them test it? And should Laurel go along with it if that’s the case? The agents don’t have any rules against time travel, but she suspected that she might throw off whatever made the machine work. After all, she isn’t actually from this timeline. On top of that, the agents aren’t really part of this world at all.  


She dismisses her concerns and joins the conversation. 

The three of them watch movies in the living room all night, turning the volume down after Laurel’s parents complain about being kept up.  


Laurel has her knees pulled up to her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs. During a lull in the movie, she speaks. “Do you guys remember when we met?” The others turn to face her from the floor.  


“Yeah, in elementary school, why?” Noah pauses the movie as he speaks.  


“I was just thinking,” She hesitates, it wouldn’t be worth it to tell them too much. “I’m gonna miss you when we have to leave.”  


Remy gives her a scandalized look. She goes into a familiar speech, they’ll text and call whenever they can, and visit, but Laurel drowns her out. Noah gives her a strange look. She always got the feeling that he could see right through her. She would think he was like her if his eyes weren’t the same shade of blue.  


With the time machine about to be revealed, Laurel suspects that she would be recalled soon. They could kill her off, or just have her distance herself from everyone she knows, but either way, it was likely that she wouldn’t see either of them after tomorrow.  


“Of course.” She must have interrupted Remy, making her scowl slightly.  


“Is something wrong?” Noah’s stare is now concerned.  


Laurel produces the realest smile she can muster, determined to enjoy their presence while she can. “Just nerves I guess, you know how it is.” Noah held her gaze for a moment before turning back around to pester Remy.  


Laurel is going to miss them so much.


End file.
